Canarrow: Meeting Willaim (chapter one rewrite)
by changingdestiny40
Summary: In this reboot, Oliver and Sara don't just stand there when Samantha lays down her rules regarding William and instead stand their ground.
**This one shot will be a partial rewrite of the first chapter of my Canarrow fic entitled "Canarrow: Meeting William", and it's being written to alleviate some complaints Dante 101 had with it. To Dante 101, I hope you like this chapter better.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own "Arrow" or its characters. They're the property of DC, Warner Brothers, the CW, and the showrunners.**

Oliver and his girlfriend Sara were listening with disbelief and outrage to Samantha's terms for allowing Oliver to get to know his son.

"That can't happen", she was saying while walking right up to Oliver. "Which means that he can't know that you're his father, and nobody else can. I don't care if that sounds harsh I'm his mother and I will do whatever", Oliver tried to speak when she cut him off, "whatever", she emphasized, "I feel I have to do to protect him. The same goes for you too Sara. These are my conditions. You've already asked the world of me Oliver I'm just asking for the same in return." She then moved away to let him and Sara discuss her proposal.

Oliver and Sara however had no need to discuss it, both thinking the exact same thing. After sharing a silent message with each other, Oliver turned back to Samantha and told her exactly what he thought of her conditions.

"I'm sorry Samantha, but I absolutely refuse to accept your ridiculous terms. You're right that William is your son, but he's also my son and I have a right to be a part of his life without any conditions whether you like it or not, especially since I'm no longer that person you described and which you yourself affirmed as true.

I also refuse to lie to my family and closest friends about this. The only thing my secrets and lies have done is brought pain and suffering and I refuse to continue living in that way. Furthermore, my sister has a right to get to know her nephew and I have no intention of taking that chance away from her, especially since keeping things secret in the past has hurt her the most", he finished firmly and with a hint of anger in his voice.

Samantha found herself very surprised and angered by Oliver's response. Of all the ways she expected him to respond, she didn't expect that. "In that case, I refuse to let you visit William and you can forget about having any place in his life. Also, if you make any attempt to contact him or myself, I'll have a restraining order placed on you. Now I believe you and Sara know the way to the door because we are finished here!"

Oliver and Sara couldn't believe what Samantha had just said to them. Not only was she not allowing Oliver to claim William as his son, which was his right to do, but now she was threatening to send him a restraining order. A wave of righteous indignation came over Sara and she immediately marched over to Samantha and stood in front of her, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Actually, we are not going anywhere. William is as much Ollie's son as he is yours and you have absolutely no right to forcefully keep them apart just because he won't bow down to your insane terms. All my boyfriend is asking is that he be given a chance to catch up on the years he's missed being there for his son, years you've wrongfully denied him. It's true that he wasn't in the best state to raise a child, but he's different now, more mature, and his current qualities are some of the things I love about him.

Furthermore, let me make clear that Oliver is not here to take William away from you or uproot him, nor am I here to take your place as his mother. He just wants to be involved with his son's life. And as he himself said, a father should have an opportunity to get to know his son and a young boy deserves the opportunity to get to know his father. So I must insist on my boyfriend's behalf that you give him a more reasonable arrangement than the one you've provided thus far".

"I am being reasonable", Samantha replied with anger and frustration at Sara's words. "And you're right that you aren't his mother which means that you have no business telling me how to do my job as a parent. In fact, this whole thing isn't any of your business and I'm not going to allow someone who used to be a no good purse snatcher tell me otherwise."

Hearing those words from Samantha caused Oliver's simmering emotions to boil over and he promptly moved Sara out of the way so that he could have his turn giving her what for. And boy did he give her a piece of his mind.

"How dare you throw Sara's past in her face. The wrongs she used to do are no longer who she is and I believe she made that very clear. And being my girlfriend actually does make this matter part of her business since two people who are in a committed relationship are supposed to share everything together. In addition, there's also the legal aspect to consider and by law a parent cannot withhold parental rights from the other parent except under special circumstances. You are his mother but I am also his father and as his father I demand that you allow me in his life without the condition of withholding his existence from those I love. Otherwise, I have the option of taking this to court and I'm sure you don't want to go through all of that."

Taking a moment to calm himself, Oliver continued. "I do understand where you're coming from however, believe me I do. And it's true that my life is complicated and that Star City isn't a safe place right now, but as Sara said, we're not here to uproot him or for me to demand full custody of him. And neither of us has any intention of taking him to Star City or telling everyone in the world about him, especially total strangers. The only people who would know would be myself, you, Sara, a good friend of mine named Barry who I had run a DNA test to see if William was my son, and those closest to me, especially Thea. So please, let's just agree on a different solution in which only those whom I love and trust know about William, and I give you my word that they can be trusted, and I'll willingly secede to your demand that no one else can find out. Do we have a deal?"

Samantha reeled in near shock at Oliver's words. Where in the world had this backbone of his come from? This was definitely not the same man she'd known all those years ago and it certainly threw her in for a loop. She also knew that she'd been backed into a corner when Oliver threatened legal action, and he was right in that she didn't want this situation to go that far. Taking a moment to process his words, she knew he that a point, okay a lot of points actually. It was true that she legally couldn't withhold Oliver's parental rights from him, and yes, a child didn't just deserve to know both parents but also the rest of his family. And Oliver's counter offer was indeed very reasonable. But before she made a decision, there was one question she felt needed to be asked.

"Before I decide, who exactly are those closest to you that would know about William?", she asked him.

Oliver did find her question to be very reasonable, and in hindsight, if he were in her shoes, he'd have done the same thing. "The people who'd I allow to know besides those I mentioned by name would be Felicity and Diggle, people who are very close to me and Sara and are our sister and brother in all but blood, Sara's sister Laurel, their father Quentin who's a police captain, and definitely my sister Thea.

Samantha had a surprised look on her face when he mentioned Laurel and her connection to Sara. "Laurel Lance is your sister Sara?", she asked her with astonishment.

"She is, and I was involved with Ollie shortly after the two of you ended your fling. It caused a lot of mess between the three of us but we managed to repair our damaged relationship and all of it is now water under the bridge. The three of us now have a stronger relationship and my sister is actually happy for Ollie and myself."

Samantha was really surprised by this piece of information but then had another question. "Do either of you really think it's wise for either of you to tell Laurel about William, especially considering the possibility that it might mess up your improved relationship with her?"

"Our improved relationship and the fact that I wronged her by being involved with you and Sara while with her is the reason why we feel she should have a right to know", Oliver answered her. And while Laurel will no doubt be angry with me for it, and she'd be well within her rights to be very angry, it would most likely ruin our current friendship if she found out I kept it from her."

Samantha nodded, understanding, and voiced her decision. "Very well Oliver. I will accept your counter offer and allow you and Sara to share with your loved ones the truth about William. But please don't tell anyone else outside of those you really trust. I just want my son to be kept safe and that's why I'm asking, Also, please consider holding off from telling him that you're his father until he's had a chance to get to know you."

"I understand, and believe me when I say that neither I nor Sara has any intention of telling anyone we don't know or trust about William. And thank you for letting me have this opportunity to get to know my son and for agreeing to a better arrangement for this. And it is indeed my intention to hopefully form a bond with William before anything else happens."

"Thank you Oliver. William is currently in his room. You can go see him if you'd like, and you too Sara since I can see you're a woman I can trust. And I'm sorry that I referred to you as a former purse thief. I was out of line and I ask for you forgiveness", Samantha responded to them with regret in her voice regarding her attitude earlier.

"I do forgive you and do understand why you were feeling the way you were. I do hope we can become friends someday", Sara replied, accepting her apology.

"I'd like that as well", she answered. Afterwards, Oliver went to see his son while Sara stayed behind with Samantha, feeling that it would be more appropriate for him to go see his son alone first in order to spend some quality time with him.

Oliver went on to spend a few minutes playing with his son while Sara and Samantha conversed and then returned to where they were. The three of them then said their goodbyes to each other and Oliver and Sara left to rejoin their team. This whole business did repeat once more due to Barry travelling back in time, but what can I say except that's how time travel sometimes works. Oliver and Sara would go on to continually visit and eventually formed strong bond of friendship with William and Samantha while Oliver treasured every moment he spent with his son and never regretted any of those times he spent with him.

 **To be continued in the following chapters of my original "Canarrow: Meeting William" fic.**

 **A/N From what I saw on the latest "Arrow" episode, it showed that despite Samantha not giving Oliver better conditions for getting to know his son, we can see that she only did what she did in the crossover in order to protect him and that her concerns were well founded. As soon as Oliver entered his son's life, two dangerous villains kidnapped the boy. Therefore, even though what Samantha did in the crossover wasn't the wisest course of action and the counteroffer I gave Oliver in this fic probably would've been better and more reasonable, it doesn't mean that she herself didn't make some good points, and I'm sure any wise parent would do whatever it takes to keep their child out of danger. Besides, what if Oliver and Team Arrow weren't trained heroes and weren't friends with the Flash and Vixen ? How would Oliver then rescue his son and especially if Darhk had gone back on his word, and worse, didn't have a code of honor in regards to not harming children ? Bad news. Those are just my thoughts and all of you have the option of disagreeing with me.**

 **New Canarrow story challenge for any of you who accept: After the events of season 4, following the end of Olicity and after Sara completes her mission with the Legends, Oliver and Sara slowly find their way back to each other. For whoever accepts, please mark the pairing as Oliver/Sara for that fic.**

 **Have a great day everyone.**


End file.
